COUNTRIES closed the latest round of climate change talks in Bonn on Thursday on track for a global climate deal to be signed later this year in Paris.

Negotiators were trying to whittle down the text that will make up the final agreement for Paris. In a rare intervention, which underlines the view that countries are worried about the lack of progress, the co-chairs of the negotiations were asked to go away and develop a more workable document ahead of the next meeting in August.

Christian Aid's senior climate-change adviser, Mohamed Adow, said that this in itself was a welcome development, as it showed that countries recognised the need to get a move on if they were to complete the work required before Paris.

He said: "The text which will make up the Paris agreement is like a lens we're all looking through to a safe and secure world. At the moment it's a bit grubby and hard to see through. The co-chairs of the negotiations on the Paris agreement need to go away and give it a good clean, so that leaders can see what needs to be done in the coming weeks and months.

"The transition to a low-carbon world is speeding up. The G7 have set a vision for a low-carbon future. This week the Pope will be publishing his encyclical on the environment, and we have the Sustainable Development Goals being agreed in September. Countries can either ride that wave or be washed away by it."

On Wednesday 17 June thousands of people are expected to take part in a mass lobby of Parliament, from noon to 5.30 p.m. The event is being organised by the Climate Coalition, which consists of more than 100 organisations working for a clean, safe and low-carbon world, and who seek to encourage the Government to make this a priority.

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Joe Ware is church and campaigns journalist for Christian Aid